Best Bubbes Chicken Soup Recipes

BUBBE'S CHICKEN SOUP

Steps:

• Wash and skin chicken, and place in large soup pot.
• Cover with water and simmer in covered pot for two hours, skimming foam from top of pot.
• Remove and reserve chicken.
• Add vegetables, simmer for another hour.
• Add salt and pepper to taste.
• Some people like to remove the vegetables and strain the soup, but I like to leave them in.
• Chill overnight and scrape fat from surface.
• Reheat and add reserved shredded chicken.
• Serve with noodles or matzoh balls.

BUBBE'S CHICKEN SOUP

Steps:

• In 12-quart heavy pot, combine chicken and enough water to cover, about 8 quarts. Bring to boil, skimming froth. Add onions, carrots, celery, parsnips, sweet potato, and dill, and simmer, partially covered, 3 hours.
• Pour stock through fine-mesh strainer into large bowl, reserving chicken and discarding remaining solids. Refrigerate stock, covered, until completely cool, then skim fat from surface. When chicken is cool enough to handle, remove skin and bones, shred meat, and refrigerate until ready to use.
• In 8-quart heavy pot over moderately high heat, bring stock to a boil. Add salt, pepper, and noodles. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, 4 minutes. Add carrots and celery, and continue simmering until noodles are tender, about 4 minutes. Add shredded chicken and simmer until heated through. Serve hot.

THE ULTIMATE CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP

Steps:

• Pat chicken dry with paper towels; sprinkle with salt and pepper. In a 6-qt. stockpot, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add chicken in batches, skin side down; cook until dark golden brown, 3-4 minutes. Remove chicken from pan; remove and discard skin. Discard drippings, reserving 2 tablespoons., Add onion to drippings; cook and stir over medium-high heat until tender, 4-5 minutes. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Add broth, stirring to loosen browned bits from pan. Bring to a boil. Return chicken to pan. Add celery, carrots, bay leaves and thyme. Reduce heat; simmer, covered, until chicken is tender, 25-30 minutes., Transfer chicken to a plate. Remove soup from heat. Add noodles; let stand, covered, until noodles are tender, 20-22 minutes., Meanwhile, when chicken is cool enough to handle, remove meat from bones; discard bones. Shred meat into bite-sized pieces. Return meat to stockpot. Stir in parsley and lemon juice. If desired, adjust seasoning with additional salt and pepper. Discard bay leaves.

BETTER THAN BUBBE'S MATZO BALL SOUP

Steps:

• In pot over high heat, combine chicken with 5 quarts water or enough to cover. Bring to a boil, skimming foam as needed; reduce heat to medium-low. Meanwhile, cut half the carrots and parsnips into 2" pieces. Halve the remaining carrots and parsnips lengthwise. Cut into 1/2" pieces; set aside. To soup add celery, onion, garlic, and reserved large carrot and parsnip pieces; simmer 1 hour. Add next 4 ingredients; simmer about 30 minutes. Strain, reserving broth and chicken.
• Discard skin from chicken. Pull meat from bones; cut or tear into bite-sized pieces. Return broth to same pot over medium heat; add remaining carrots and parsnips. Simmer until vegetables are almost tender, about 10 minutes. Add chicken; heat well, about 5 minutes. Stir in last 4 soup ingredients. Cover; set aside.
• Meanwhile, in a skillet over low heat cook reserved chicken fat, stirring occasionally, until melted and solids begin to brown, 30 minutes. Strain fat, discarding solids. Measure melted fat; add enough vegetable oil to equal 1/3 cup, if necessary.
• In small pot over medium heat, combine schmaltz, eggs, salt, pepper, and seltzer . Stir in matzo meal. Cover; refrigerate at least 30 minutes.
• Fill skillet halfway with water or chicken broth. Place over high heat; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium. With lightly moistened hands, shape tablespoonfuls of matzo mixture into balls. Gently add to simmering water or broth.
• Cover; simmer until all matzo balls are cooked through, about 20 minutes. using a slotted spoon transfer matzo balls to soup. Let stand 15 minutes to allow matzo balls absorb flavors of soup. Reheat, if necessary, and serve.

CHICKEN SOUP FROM SCRATCH

Steps:

• Place the chicken, celery, carrots, onions, parsnip (if using), parsley, peppercorns, bay leaves and salt in a large soup pot and cover with cold water by 1 inch.
• Bring to a boil over high heat, then immediately reduce the heat to very low. Adjust the heat until the soup is "smiling": barely moving on the surface, with an occasional bubble breaking through. Cook uncovered, until the chicken is very tender and falling off the bone, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
• When cool enough to handle, use tongs to transfer chicken from the pot to a container. Taste the broth and continue to simmer it until it is concentrated and tasty. Strain broth through a fine sieve (or a colander lined with cheesecloth) into a separate container. Discard all the solids from the strainer (or reserve the vegetables, chill and serve with vinaigrette, if you wish).
• Refrigerate chicken pieces and broth separately for at least 8 hours (or up to 3 days), until a thick layer of yellow fat has risen to the top of the broth.
• When ready to finish the soup, use your fingers to separate chicken breast meat from bones and skin. Discard bones and skin. Use two forks to pull the breast meat apart into soft chunks, or use a knife and cut into bite-size pieces. (Reserve dark meat for another use.)
• Skim chicken fat from top of broth and set aside. Place 3 tablespoons of the fat in a soup pot with a lid. Add leeks, stir to coat, and heat over medium heat until leeks begin to fry. Then reduce the heat to a gentle sizzle and cook, stirring often, until slightly softened, about 3 minutes.
• Add carrots, sprinkle with salt, stir, and cover the pot. Cook until vegetables are just tender, about 5 minutes more. (Keep in mind that vegetables will continue to cook in the soup.) Do not brown.
• Pour broth into pot with vegetables and heat to a simmer. Add noodles and simmer until heated through, soft and plumped with chicken broth. Add the breast meat, then taste broth and add salt and pepper to taste. For best flavor, soup should have some golden droplets of fat on top; if needed, add more chicken fat one teaspoon at a time.
• Serve immediately, in a tureen or from the pot, sprinkling each serving with herbs.